The long-term objective of this program is to train lab animal medicine veterinarians to be competitive research scientists. The specific aims are to 1) select individuals completing an internship or residency in lab animal medicine, 2) matriculate trainees in a rigid discipline oriented Ph.D. program, 3) emphasize a laboratory based research project on lab animal diseases or animal models of human disease under the mentorship of an NIH RO-1 funded faculty scientist, and 4) conceptualize, conduct, analyze and publish research results required for the Ph.D. thesis. Upon completion of the program, trainees will be prepared to function as independent experimental research lab animal specialists. The foundation of the program is through interaction between the academic disciplines of clinical medicine, pathology, clinical pathology, endocrinology, microbiology, nutrition, immunology and epidemiology on one hand, with service disciplines of lab animal and primate medicine. UC Davis has a rich research environment in the California Regional Primate Research Center, Animal Resources Service, Centers for Comparative Medicine and for Vector-borne Diseases and departments within the Schools of Veterinary medicine and Medicine. The program format is based upon individually tailored Ph.D. programs in comparative pathology, physiology, nutrition, microbiology, epidemiology, or immunology. The first 12 to 18 months of the three year program will be spent primarily in taking advanced course work appropriate to lab animal medicine an the discipline selected for thesis research. The major thrust of the program is a thesis research project on a lab animal problem or model of human disease. Candidates with the DVM and previous lab animal training will be selected by an advisory committee on the basis of academic performance, demonstrated interest and motivation toward an academic research career. Four stipends are required for each of the years of the program. The goals of the proposed program are in keeping with the School of Veterinary Medicine's commitment to train athe next generation of research scientists interested in bettering animal and human health.